Saturday, October 31, 2009

This weekend I also finished off the fantasy command stands. First up are the bad guys, with a mix of Caesar (general, standard bearer) and Dark Alliance (drummer, horn blower) figures.

I think this base turned out quite nicely. The drums are shaped like skulls (hard to see in the photo). I have figures for a couple of more bases and will get around to them later. This base joins the dwarf general I did last week.

The good army also has a Gandalf stand. Sorry the photo turned out so blurry.

You get a better sense of it from the much crisper rear view.

There is also an Elf stand (meh--not the greatest poses).

And finally a Rohan stand using Zvezda and Emhar figures.

Up Next: Club night is Tuesday so hopefully there is something good to play there! I have some 15mm Goblins on the painting table for a HoTT army I'm going to sell. Then maybe some more 15mm Romans? We'll see.

I managed to finish off the orcs I need to put on my game on November 17th. There are 11 bases of these fellows all told, which should be sufficient!

These are a mix of Caesar and Dark Alliance orcs. The Caesar are the taller, more pig-like orcs while the Dark Alliance tend to be shorter and extremely two dimensional.

That said, they all painted up fairly nicely, with the Dark Alliance hardly requiring any work beyond drybrushing and a bit of detailing

There are a mix of command figures between the two manufacturers. I'm partial to the banner in the Caesar box. But the Dark Alliance box contains a horn blower and a drummer. I'll have pictures of these in my next post.

I also finished up two bases of trolls. These are Caesar figures from their adventurers box. I saw the blue paint scheme at the club (I think) and tried to replicate what I could remember.

And from the back. He is on a 120mm wide base to give you a sense of his size.

Next Up: I have completed the command poses I need to wrap up most of my fantasy armies (need to do a few seige engines and whatnot) so I will post them up shortly. On the painting bench is a 15mm Goblin HoTT army which I will be looking to sell. Then maybe some more 1/72.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

I popped over to Bruce's last night. We decided to play the 1993 version of The War of 1812. We had previously played Bruce's vintage copy from 1973 or 1975. I pinched these images from BGG as my camera batteries have died.

The "new" rules altered naval warfare (for the better, I think), how Indian allies worked, and added in cavalry units. It also slightly changed how activation worked (a competitive die roll each turn determined which side went first, allowing double impulses). The map was also a bit prettier than the original game.

I had a horrific first game. I'm always a bit too aggressive this game. Combined with some bad die rolls, it was all over in the first year for the British. Yes, we're all speaking "American" now. Sorry, eh!

We switched sides for game two and I lost again, this time due to bad strategy (versus Bruce's good strategy). Maybe next time I'll swipe his reading glasses so I can have some sort of advantage!

Bruce liked the competitive die roll for the game. I'm not sure yet. The cavalry were of little consequence. I understand an even newer version of the game contains artillery. I often worry that gamers tend to crap up games with additional detail so I'm pretty leery of this change.

Next up: Some 1/72 fantasy. I painted up about 80 orcs the other day and just need to finish one last batch and given them a wash tonight. Then onto basing. I also put a bunch of 15mm Goblins on paint sticks for a HoTT army I'm going to paint up and sell.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

I have for sale a painted, all-options 15mm DBA Teutonic Orders army (IV/30, 1201AD - 1522AD). These fellows are suitable for protecting pilgrims in Outremer or mucking about in central and eastern Europe.

The army comprises 50 figures on 14 bases plus a camp and themed barker marker. I'd like $85 (shipping is free in Canada and the US) via PayPal. I would also consider items in trade (unpainted 15mm ancients) or a mix of cash and trade.

This army includes a 3Kn General with banner. These figures are a mix of Falcon and AD&D Battlesystems (of all things). The banners and pennants are all hand painting on tinfoil ($%#&@!) to get an appropriate thickness.

There are also three 3Kn units for added punch, although their impetuousness can be a challenge to manage! Each unit has at least one fellow with a pennant.

There is also one 3Cv base and two 2LH (mix of Falcon, AD&D and Essex).

The Teutonic Order was always small and fielding an army usually entailed pulling together some locals and mercenaries. The rabble include two 4Cb units. The figures are a mix of Falcon and Essex. Note each base has three crossbow men and a spearman.

For some additional variety, there is one 3Ax unit (good in bad going and fleet to foot), one 4Sp unit, and one 2Ps.

Then there are two 7Hd bases. I know most folks hate hordes, but they are fantastically useful at locking up enemy troops and they cannot be destroyed by "closing the door" as they never recoil. These fellows are a mix of manufacturers (Essex, Falcon and a couple of mystery figures), each one led by a priest.

There is a camp with wooden cross. Buildings and wall (at the back) are metal from Irregular.

There is also a themed Barker marker with two figures (AD&D and Falcon).

All figures were hand painted by me with acrylics over a black undercoat and then sealed. The bases are sanded, sealed, drybrushed, flocked with GW static grass, and some woodland scenics bushes. All from a smoke- and pet-free home (if that is important to you).

You can contact me at bob.barnetson@shaw.ca if you are interested.

Next up: Some 1/72 fantasy command bases and trolls. And, shortly thereafter some 1/72 orcs. Then maybe another 15mm Roman DBA army for sale.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Last night was club night and we had six guys playing two games. Dave C. brought out a lovely looking game of Warhammer Ancient Battles using 28mm figures.

The scenario was the Battle of Hasting, with Chris and Chen playing the Saxons and Dave and Scott playing the Normans. All good fun until someone loses an eye.

There was a fair bit of caterwauling but I'm not sure who won. I think the Normans.

Note Dave's excellent Norman musician!

Bruce ran a 15mm game of DBHx with French and Prussian armies tangling.

Each side started with a corp on the board and another corp moving (on a die roll) off the board to an unknown (to the other guy) and variable entry point.

I played the French and await the Prussian main assault on the east side of the board. Towards the middle, a bloody skirmish developed. I was sure I was going to break Bruce's first corp before his second arrived, especially once my second corp arrived right behind the first.

But then I had a tough run of luck and my own first corp broke and retreated. Leaving me to redeploy the arriving second corp to try and finish off his first corp while facing a developing threat on my western flank. In the end, Bruce managed to push me over the edge ahead of himself and the French were driven from the field in disarray. Great reinforcement mechanic in the making there!

Next games night is Tuesday, November 3. Dave indicated he would run a WW2 game using the Rules of Engagement. Room for more games. And more players!

Up next: Probably a 15mm Teutonic DBA army by the end of the week. painting is about done so just basing. Then onto some 1/72-scale Orcs!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Long time no update, all because I decided to paint two boxes of Caesar dwarves all at once. Damn, 100 dwarves is a lot of little guys!

I started with two stands of shooters. The boxes had two missile poses: with crossbow and with musket. I was looking for seven or eight figures to a stand so I decided to just mix the two poses up, rather than have one stand of gunners and one of crossbows.

I then based up the remainder as heavy infantry. I ended up with 9 on a base and I think the effect is pleasing.

Gives the forces of good some umpff when they tackle those of evil. I was trying to figure out why I liked the dwarves so much and it dawned on me that they have the proportions common to most metal figures (sorry Chen!).

I also did my first command base: a dwarven standard bearer, two commanders and a stone marker.

On Saturday I popped over to Craig's and had two quick games of Memoir '44. It has been awhile since I played WW2 and I quite enjoyed the simplicity of Memoir. Clear decisions, limited mechanics to recall, interesting scenarios.

Up next: Club night is Tuesday. I'm inclined to play in Bruce's DBHX Franco-Prussian War game but will bring along The War of 1812 block game by G2G in case we need an extra game. On the paint table is a 15mm medieval DBA army. A real mix of figures (Falcon, AD&D Battlesystems, Essex) that I got as two job lots. And then there are 150 1/72 goblins (Caesar, Dark Alliance) that need painting to bring most of my fantasy painting to a close.

Friday, October 9, 2009

I managed to finish up some more 1/72 fantasy figures. This time some human and elven skirmishers. Again, based on 120mm bases for either Basic Impetus or triple-sized HoTT.

The humans are a mix of Zvezda and Emhar viking sets.

I quite like the Zvezda. Emhar is nice in that it can be glued with regular model cement but are bigger, less detailed and some poses are bit two-dimensional (like the guy on the left below).

I also did two bases of eleven skirmishers from Caesar.

I think these turned out quite nice. Maybe a bit drab, but they are skirmishers!

Next up: Dwarves! I have a tonne of Caesar dwarves on sticks right now. The shooters are done and ready to basing (perhaps Monday...) while the rest need detailing. The bulky nature of the dwarves means they are a bit more like metal figures in their proportions (so much easier to paint!). I'm also working on sorting out a 15mm 100YW army from a box of figures I got. Then there are all of the 1/72 Dark Alliance and Caesar Orcs that demand attention... .

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

We had 11 guys out to the club last night and three games ran. Dave C. put on a game of Sharpe's Practice using some lovely 28mm plastic Napoleonic figures he just painted.

Chen and Mark played this scenario twice. The scenario got high marks over coffee but the rule system received mixed reviews.

Kevin hosted a game of WW2 Canvas Eagles.

This was a late-war attack on a US bomber stream but a bunch of Me262 jets.

Elliot, Matt, Bruce and Chris all played.

It was quite a sight, with 262s catching fire all over the place, with dead-eye Matt and dead Elliot beating the heck out of the bombers.

Scott hosted me in a game of 6mm Command and Colors Ancients. We played two linked scenarios based on Teutoberg Forest. The first scenario was a massacre. We played it twice and both times the Romans (trapped against a marsh, yellow base tags) were easily greased by the German warbands.

The second game was a breakout game for the Romans. They started in a hasty pallisade and had to kill the Germans and/or get off the board to win. This was much more balanced, with a two-one split for the Germans the three times we played it.

Next games night is Tuesday, October 20th. Dave will bring the Battle of Hastings for WAB. There was also some big talk about a game of Epic CCA (three boards, six players, every mini I own).

Up next: Likely some 1/72 fantasy skirmishers. And some dwarves if I can get a bit of time in this weekend.